A blog by Eapen Thampy

I know what this says, but what does it mean?

Section 79.200, RSMo 1994, provides:

79.200. Mayor shall have the power to enforce laws. — The mayor shall be active and vigilant in enforcing all laws and ordinances for the government of the city, and he shall cause all subordinate officers to be dealt with promptly for any neglect or violation of duty; and he is hereby authorized to call on every male inhabitant of the city over eighteen years of age and under fifty, to aid in enforcing the laws.

The excerpt is from a 1996 opinion written by Jay Nixon, Missouri’s Attorney General at the time. I am not qualified to interpret the meaning of this law, and I’m quite honestly curious…what, precisely, does it mean that the mayor can “call on every male inhabitant of the city over eighteen years of age and under fifty, to aid in enforcing the laws”?